This invention relates to a multi-purpose gravity operated fluid path for administering fluids intravenously to a patient.
Solution administration devices or fluid paths used for delivering intravenous (IV) fluids to a patient are well-known in the art. These devices are sometimes referred to simply as IV sets and generally include a tubular flow line having a capped spike at the upper end that is capable of being inserted into an IV solution bag and a catheter tip at the lower end for infusing fluid into a patient's vein. The flow line also includes a flow regulator, typically in the form of a drip chamber, which determines the maximum rate of flow that can be passed through the line and thus the maximum amount of fluid that will be administered to the patient over a given period of time. One or more adjustable roller clamps are typically attached to the line above and below the drip chamber for either closing off the line completely or further regulating the flow. A graduated burette is generally placed in series flow relationship with the drip chamber to allow the attending health care worker to accurately monitor the amount of fluid administered to the patient.
During most normal procedures, IV fluids are administered continuously over extended periods of time at relatively low flow rates. Oftentimes, however, a situation, such as the need for surgery, will arise where a continuous low flow fluid path will not satisfy the needs of the patient. Under these conditions, the low flow administration set-up is removed and replaced with a high-flow set-up. When the patient's special needs are satisfied, the high-flow administration set-up is removed and once again replaced with a new low-flow set-up.
This repeated setting up and taking down of the IV system is a time consuming procedure which wastes substantial amounts of health care time. This loss of time, particularly during emergency procedures, can increase the patient's risk factor. In light of the fact that an IV administration set-up can be used only once, the use of multiple set ups during a single procedure can be relatively costly. More importantly, the hospital must inventory a reasonably large amount of this type of equipment to meet the needs of its patients. Large inventories are space consuming and require a good deal of time and effort to stock and control. The disposal of used administration sets is also causing environmental problems which are now becoming more and more pronounced. Frequent IV starts also increase the risk of infection to the patient and any reduction in the number of starts will be of an immediate benefit to both patient and health care workers alike.
Frequently, a piggy-back arrangement is used to administer medication or blood through the injection port of any intravenous administration set. In this arrangement, a mini-bag, which is attached to a high flow or low-flow drip chamber, is inserted directly into the main flow line through an injection port located below the primary or low-flow drip chamber. During this procedure, the primary IV bag is lowered and the mini-bag raised to a higher elevation thereby allowing the secondary fluid to be administered by gravity through the injection port. Although this piggy-back arrangement works well in practice, it nevertheless does have certain disadvantages. The equipment takes time to set up and must be closely monitored, again resulting in the excessive use of valuable health care time. Typically, most patients require more than one secondary infusion and, as a result, the main fluid path will be invaded repeatedly. This, of course, increases the risk of infection. The needle used to invade the fluid path also poses a constant danger to the attending health care worker. Unless extreme care is exercised, the attending worker can puncture him or herself with the needle during the injection procedure. The initial wound itself may not be dangerous, however, puncture wounds provides a means by which blood-borne infections can be acquired.